Sun, football, and the Royals: Summer of 2018 most expensive ever for Brits
The summer of 2018 will forever be remembered for long scorching days, the Royal wedding, and England's Baddiel and Skinner-fuelled charge to the World Cup semi-finals. But the Office of National Statistics has reported that that very same heady cocktail of merriment made it the most expensive summer for Brits ever.
Revealing that the entire country's gross domestic product (GDP) actually rose as the joyful summer rolled on and more and more people stayed out later and splashed out on more food and drink, the ONS' statistics indicate that Brits spent on average just under £400 each per week on going out.
Beer gardens, socialising, BBQs, and days out were the main economic black holes for the people of the UK intoxicated by the prevalence of shorts at work and mercury rising beyond the 30°C mark, with a cartridgesave.co.uk survey breaking down costs even more and showing that an average of £45 per person per week was spent at the pub, £25 at BBQs, £27 at World Cup events, and £15 at Royal wedding soirees.
“Warm weather and the World Cup provided such a feelgood factor for the country this summer that everyone had to enjoy it," said Ian Cowley, managing director of cartridgesave.co.uk. “Worries such as Brexit were temporarily forgotten in favour of going to the beer garden to watch England’s next game.
“However, now the seasons have changed, it means serious budgeting has to take place to ensure everyone can have the Christmas they want, too," he added.
The average amount spent every week was an impressive £384 per person, with one in 11 people spending more than £1,000 in the period from June to August, with one in eight putting their extra spending down to Gareth Southgate's team's efforts and almost half (43%) saying it was due to the wonderful weather.